Sterilization of items used in medical procedures is vital to minimizing the spread of harmful and infectious agents to patients. Typically, the items used in medical procedures are placed into a sterilization container such as sterilization wrap made of a gas permeable material or a reusable vented rigid containers. These sterilization containers preserve sterility of the items contained therein, as well as the interior portion of these containers, after the containers and contents of the container have been channeled through a sterilization procedure. During a typical sterilization procedure, the sterilization wraps or vented rigid containers are placed into a sterilization chamber, and the gas permeable material in the sterilization wrap or vents within the rigid container allow a gas sterilant to contact the item to be sterilized in the sterilization container.
Examples of current gas sterilization procedures include, gas plasma sterilization, steam sterilization, ethylene oxide sterilization, hydrogen peroxide sterilization, and ozone sterilization. Other sterilization procedures, such as irradiation have also been used.
Although utilization of sterilization wrap and/or use of vented rigid re-usable containers are generally effective, there are certain economic and protection disadvantages associated with use of these types of sterilization containers.
For example, with regard to the use of sterilization wraps, the wraps are made of a relatively thin, inexpensive, flexible material. In certain circumstances, prior to wrapping the items with sterilization wrap, the items to be sterilized are placed within a metal sterilization tray having pointed edges. Sometimes, very small tears may develop in the wrap if the wrap snags when it comes into contact with the pointed edge. This may allow bacteria or other harmful substances to contaminate the items therein after the sterilization container is complete. Further, this results in added expense because the items to be sterilized will need to re-handled and re-sterilized at an additional cost.
An additional issue with the use of sterilization wraps is a lack of visibility. Because sterilization wraps generally are not made of transparent material, the medical professional utilizing it cannot visually inspect the items contained therein for content or for assurance that the sterilization procedure has been completed. This can lead to a medical professional opening the wrong sterilization tray during a procedure and/or lead to lack of confidence that the tray is truly sterilized. As a result, trays and articles may require unnecessary rehandling and resterilization which wastes both economic and time resources.
With regard to reusable vented rigid containers, although generally effective, these containers must be thoroughly maintained and cleaned between uses so that they may be re-used. In contrast, sterilization wrap may be discarded after a single use. This re-use of the sterilization container drains an exorbitant amount of hospital economic and time resources because staffing levels often need to be increased in order to maintain these rigid containers. Additionally, the longer the containers are in use, the less confidence clinicians have in the sterilization efficacy of the containers. Ultimately, these containers must be repaired, reconditioned, or discarded.
Thus, there remains a need in the art for sterilization containers that are economical, provide ease of visual inspection, and that impart confidence in sterility among clinicians.